Twelve local acts to perform Murray’s hits on July 26 in Springhill

Thirteen of Cumberland County’s top musicians are coming together to perform a tribute concert for Anne Murray on Saturday, July 26 at Richard Calder Arena in the Dr. Carson and Marion Murray Commuity Centre in Springhill. Co-organizers Marcie Meekins and Chris Gooding say the event will help Springhill celebrate 125 years as a town and mark the 25th anniversary of the Anne Murray Centre.

SPRINGHILL – Some of Cumberland County’s top musicians are coming together next week to honour Springhill’s most famous singer.

As part of the town’s 125th birthday celebrations and to mark the 25th anniversary of the Anne Murray Centre, 12 musicians and bands are take place in a tribute to Murray with each one of them performing the Springhill songbird’s hits during a two-hour concert in the Richard Calder Arena at the Dr. Carson and Marion Murray Community Centre.

“When I moved back to Springhill this is something I wanted to do for the community and for myself. It’s sort of like the last thing on my bucket list,” event co-organizer Chris Gooding said. “The timing was never right and I don’t think you’d have the same sort of reaction to it that we’ve had now.”

Gooding said the concert will not only pay tribute to Murray, but also raise the bar for local musicians by putting them on the big stage with a professional production company.

Moncton-based SSI – the same production company that has presented the ECMA’s rock stage, Merle Haggard and the Evolve music festival – has been hired for the evening, giving musicians and the audience an amazing and unique concert experience.

The doors open at 6 p.m. with the show starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.

While Murray herself won’t be in attendance at the show, it’s being recorded and a copy will be sent to her.

Along with their own music, they will also be performing their own versions of Murray’s hits like Snowbird, Cotton Jenny, Danny’s Song, Hippo in the Bathtub and more.

“We sent out a message to the artists feeling them out to see if they were interested and the response was incredible. Right from the get-go they wanted to do this and they were telling us the songs they wanted to cover,” Gooding said. “What was amazing is that there was such a wide variety. Not everyone was choosing Snowbird or Danny’s Song. That was really neat in itself. It’s like getting her greatest album without having to manage it to avoid duplication.”

Co-organizer and Anne Murray Centre executive director Marcie Meekins said the concert will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for those performing.

“Part of our mandate is to promote the music of Nova Scotia and to me this is the epitome of fulfilling that mandate,” Meekins said. “What’s a better way to pay tribute to a Cumberland County legend than have the best and brightest in Cumberland County perform her music.”

Earlier in the day, the Anne Murray Centre is hosting VIP patron luncheon that raises money to support music programs in Springhill and Cumberland County. Each ticket is a $200 charitable donation with all the proceeds going to support initiatives such as a new program that has musicians going to the All Saints Hospital to perform for patients in the restorative care unit.

Murray will be at the Anne Murray Centre at 2 p.m. to meet her fans to help celebrate the facility’s 25th birthday. She will also sign autographs and have photos taken with her fans.

“While the earlier event is a fundraiser this is a free event that’s open to everyone. It’s also something Anne looks forward to, being with her fans,” Meekins said. “With it being the 25th year we have people coming from as far away as Australia and Sweden.”

Gooding first thought of the concert idea while living in Charlottetown attending journalism at Holland College. He was asked to jam with Dean Dunsford because he was from Springhill.

“That’s when I started to have this idea about having our own musicians performing Anne’s music with their own artistic flair,” Gooding said. “I think people are going to be really amazed with the caliber of the music. Cape Breton is really good at promoting its musicians and so is Halifax and Yarmouth, but here in Cumberland County it’s almost like it’s just a slice of life that so and so is such a talented individual.”

Meekins said the concert is so appropriate because Murray crossed over into so many genres during her 40-year-plus music career.

“Anne was one of those great crossover artists who could go from genre to genre,” Meekins said. “She wasn’t just a country music artist. She produced a lot of pop material and even gospel and that’s what is so special about her.”

Thirteen of Cumberland County’s top musicians are coming together to perform a tribute concert for Anne Murray on Saturday, July 26 at Richard Calder Arena in the Dr. Carson and Marion Murray Commuity Centre in Springhill. Co-organizers Marcie Meekins and Chris Gooding say the event will help Springhill celebrate 125 years as a town and mark the 25th anniversary of the Anne Murray Centre.

I would like to bring it to the paper's attention that Michelle LeBlanc is also performing at the Anne Murray event. Michelle was omitted from the article and promotional information because it was thought that her band name is Sweet Addiction. This is not the case. I do believe however that Sweet Addiction will be added to the lineup as well. If there is any way to have a correction made before the printed paper comes out , it would be greatly appreciated.